Cyril Paul Joseph Meagher

Wartime Heritage ASSOCIATION

Remembering World War II

Name: Cyril Paul Joseph Meagher Rank: Civilian Radio Operator / Officer Service Number: Civilian Service: Ferry Command, Royal Air Force Awards: Commended for Valuable Service in the Air Date of Birth: April 10, 1911 Place of Birth: Halifax, Halifax County, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Halifax County, Nova Scotia Date of Death: July 4, 1945 Age: 34 Cemetery: Ottawa Memorial, Ottawa, Ontario Grave: Addenda Panel Commemorated on Page 609 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa December 26 and 27 Cyril Paul Joseph ‘Red’ Meagher was the son of Edward Joseph Meagher and Rebecca Winnifred (O’Neil) Meagher, and the brother of Thomas Frances Meagher, William James Meagher, George Albert Meagher, Margret Meagher, and Edward Alexander Meagher. Cyril was born in and grew up in Halifax. He married Arna Elizabeth Bredesen (1921-2002) in Quebec in 1943. During WWII, Arna worked in defense plants as a rivet bucker, or riveter, for fighter aircraft; a real life ‘Rosie Riveter.’ The aircraft on which Cyril served with 5 other crew, Liberator C.IX JT982, was lost without a trace July 4, 1945, during a VIP transit flight between Dorval, Quebec (the base for Ferry Command) and the United Kingdom. 9 civilian passengers also died in the aircraft from 231 Squadron. Their Liberator was on its leg from RCAF Gander in Newfoundland (YQX) to Keflavik, Iceland on an itinerary of Washington DC, Dorval QC, Gander NL, Keflavik (Iceland), Prestwick UK, and Northolt UK. The other crew were Capt. George Peter Evans (pilot, US civilian), Capt. John Weldy Ross (co-pilot, US civilian, of Portland, Oregon), Flying Officer Roy Holden Marshall Patterson (navigator, RCAF, 231 Squadron, born in Chile, but gave Montreal as his home address), Gayle Burton Swaney (flight engineer, Canadian civilian, of Germantown, Montgomery Co., and Dayton, Ohio, US), and Sergeant William Thomas Keates, (flight clerk, RAFVR, 231 Squadron, of London, England). The passengers were: Sir Herbert William Malkin GCMG, CB, KC, Legal Adviser to Foreign Office, age 62 Colonel Denis Cuthbert Capel-Dunn OBE, Ministry of Defense (MI5), age 41 Mr. Roland Tennyson Peel COBE MC, India Office, age 52 Miss Mabel Jane Clarkson Scupham, Foreign Office, age 40 Miss Joan Margaret Cole-Hamilton MBE, Foreign Office, age 40 Miss Doreen A Smith, Foreign Office, age 20 Miss Agnes Mary Collard, Foreign Office, age 29 Miss Beryl Hibberd, India Office, age 23 Miss Phyllis Mabel Spurway, Cabinet Office, age 35 The passengers were returning from the United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), also known on the San Francisco Conference, which founded the United Nations. The convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations took place from April 25, 1945, to June 26, 1945. Civilian Radio Operator Cyril Joseph Paul Meagher is remembered on the Ottawa Memorial in Ottawa, Ontario in Canada.